1 IN 3 UK BANK CUSTOMERS WOULD SWITCH BANKS TO AVOID FAULTY ATMs

Maidenhead, UK - 30 July 2007

A survey by Level Four Software, carried out by ICM Research, today reveals that more than one in three people (38%) in the UK would consider moving their bank account based on the extent of their bank’s network of faulty cash machines (cash machines that are ‘out of order’ or ‘out of cash’). The research results highlight the issue of ATM downtime in terms of lost revenues during an outage as well as the inability to retain existing customers due to potentially increased dissatisfaction and disloyalty at their bank’s service.

As ATMs are critical customer touch points for banks, network availability is key for customer service. Banks are facing an increased demand on their ATM networks, and at the same time, customers expect a high level of service and availability. The recent migration to a Windows-based ATM operating system has introduced a greater level of complexity into today’s ATMs and technology changes have impacted service availability levels. This change, as well as the desire for more complex functionality at today’s modern ATMs, introduces a new level of risk to the bank’s ATM operations. As such, banks need to gain greater insight into their ATM network through more effective monitoring and control in order to identify and fix problems immediately that could compromise customer service.

Ian Kerr, CEO at Level Four, said: “Banks cannot afford to neglect their ATM network uptime. It is imperative for them to ensure that all ATM terminals are not only fully operational with any faults fixed quickly but that customers receive the best service at the ATM. The survey results show that a significant portion of a bank’s most valuable asset, its customers, would go to the extreme of switching banks if their bank’s ATM network downtime persists.”